Image: Serpentine Galleries, London
Serpentine has opened ‘processing…’, an open-access archive display in the Education Space at Serpentine South in London, presenting material from its Arts Technologies programme and mapping more than a decade of work at the intersection of art and advanced technologies. The display runs from 20 July to 6 September 2026, with visitors asked to RSVP from 21 July to arrange a visit.
According to Serpentine, the display brings together audio recordings, photographs, publications, digital commissions and other materials that document the experimental methodologies and creative research and development underpinning the institution’s Arts Technologies work. The project takes its title from the in-progress computation message “processing…”, a phrase Serpentine says evokes continual activity and change. The Education Space has been transformed into what the institution describes as an active archive, listening room and research space.
The display also frames Serpentine’s Arts Technologies programme within a longer institutional history. Serpentine says ‘processing…’ references early exhibitions including ‘The Video Show’ from 1975, a festival of independent video, and ‘Take Me [I’m Yours]’ from 1995, which featured ‘Absolut Access’, an early internet-based installation. It also points to selected editions of the Serpentine Marathons, including ‘89Plus’ (2013), ‘GUEST, GHOST, HOST: MACHINE!’ (2017) and ‘Work’ (2018), which engaged with questions around networked society, AI and automation.
On its Arts Technologies pages, Serpentine describes the programme as exploring the impact of technology through art, research and experimental projects. Its areas of focus include blockchain, artificial intelligence, video games and life sciences. The ‘processing…’ display appears as part of that broader remit, presenting process and research rather than finished outcomes and offering what the institution calls a behind-the-scenes look at projects, partnerships and ideas developed across the programme.
The timing of the display also places it alongside current and upcoming Arts Technologies activity. Serpentine’s website lists Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s online project ‘I DIDNT REALISE YOU THOUGHT LIKE THAT’ as an ongoing free project launched on 21 May 2026, and the ‘THE DELUSION’ project as a related commission that ran as an exhibition at Serpentine North from 30 September 2025 to 18 January 2026. The new archive display is presented separately from those projects, but it sits within the same Arts Technologies ecosystem.
Alongside the exhibition, Serpentine says it will announce a public programme very soon, though no details have been released yet. The institution also notes that limited Future Art Ecosystems merchandise, including new caps, is available exclusively through the display. ‘processing…’ is presented in the Education Space at Serpentine South until 6 September 2026.
